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Health & Fitness

The Dead Horse

ABC's "Nightline" came to town and turned the battle against a proposed McDonald's away just health as part of its "Faith Matters" series.

I swore to myself that I was going to leave it alone for a bit. Get off the McDonald's train after my last little tirade.

But then ABC News' "Nightline" had to show up in town.

So, it was with an objective mind that I sat down to watch the show -- a regular practice in our household anyway.

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And what transpired, well ... let's take a blow-by-blow, as I've now watched it a few extra times online.

  • "A full 50 percent of the residents are Seventh-day Adventist," host Cynthia McFadden says in her lead-in to the piece. Really? Fifty percent? That seems like a high number, especially when you factor in the populations in areas such as Bryn Mawr and North Loma Linda. And a lot of anecdotal evidence from interviews in the past year of people who say they come in to Loma Linda to go to church from outside.
  • Dr. Wayne Dysinger is one of the lead people protesting the McDonald's. Nice lookin' house the Dysingers have. Looks to me like he can afford all the healthy foods he says we should eat. Ever try to eat healthy on a budget? When the all-natural, organic stuff becomes cheaper, we might go there. But when you've only got a few bucks to last a week, those two tacos for 99 cents at Jack in the Box are going to make more financial sense than ordering the healthier chicken teriyaki bowl at $4.
  • Hey, ABC got it right ... it's a proposed McDonald's!
  • Dysinger says that he doesn't want his kids to avoid the temptation of driving by a McDonald's. His kids are driving? OK, I know what he meant. But where the heck are they as a family driving that they're not already running into McDonald's?
  • Reporter Neal Karlinsky says people were protesting at the City Council meeting like a "nuclear waste dump" was coming to town. No, but right down the street there's a couple of big rail and trucking yards. Hmmm. Wonder if that might be the reason why San Bernardino's one of the unhealthiest areas in the state?
  • Then, Karlinsky mentions that there's "at least" one other fast food restaurant in town? Man, they musta stuck to Barton and points around the hospital, because he missed the other five (and the Hometown Buffet, Domino's Pizza and Subway). [To be fair, their written story online mentions the other notable chains.]
  • Then we get interviews with people outside the Carl's -- neither person identified by name. The first person is interviewed in his car, and appears to have tattoos up and down his arms. The picture of one of those "50 percent" in town.
  • The second person outside Carl's derides the "nanny state people." Which reminds me, the Carl's is right next door to the VA. The one that serves more than just Loma Linda residents. And do you want to be the one to tell one of the brave men and women who served their country that they can't have a burger before they leave town?
  • Hey! There's the mayor. "Dusty" to his friends. He pounds home the point that it's not the city's job to make the "choice" of where people should eat.
  • Dysinger is back and says they're working with the developer with ideas for other restaurants. Sounds good. Hope you can convince them to come to Loma Linda. And, hey, there's probably going to be room in this center for more than just the McDonald's, so why not have the Arches and other healthy options? Just a thought.
  • And McDonald's weighs in with its official statement. Gee, thanks McDonald's for telling me about your salads, apple slices and oatmeal. All those are yummy, and only three options. Think forward guys. Who knows, maybe you can restart your revolution.
  • Dysinger closes us out and says he wants to keep his children pure from temptation of a Happy Meal? That's called parenting. Remember USC quarterback Todd Marinovich? His father kept him pure from the temptation of a Big Mac. Until he couldn't any more. And Todd rebelled. And then Todd was doing things a little more self-destructive than a Big Mac. That's not to say any of these kids are going to go off and become quarter-pounder-binging teens, but if you have the right faith and teaching at home, then a McDonald's shouldn't scare you.
  • By the way, when the video finishes online, they go right into an older report on the evils of hidden salt in foods. Great, another thing I'm going to have to worry about -- low calories, but packed with salt. Sigh.

OK, I swear there are other things I want to talk about. And I hope to get them soon. But all this has been so yummy. Kinda like that occasional cheeseburger.

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